Special

Chapter 22

The entire lunch table burst into laughter as Harper amused us with a hilarious anecdote. I'm not sure whether it was the laughter, whether it was because my air boot cast was finally off or because my body was drug-free for the first time in years, but I felt lighter than I could ever remember.

Allie entered the dining hall, walking past the adroit to an empty table. Izzy and Rory contemptuously stared at her, murmuring amongst themselves.

It upset me that Allie gossiped about me, but it upset me even more seeing her sitting alone at lunch. Sure, she broke my trust but the good outweighed the bad. We'd had our moments before, but she'd been nothing but supportive — a ray of light in the dark. Sneaking us into the cinema was just one of many moments Allie lit up in my life.

I excused myself from the lunch table, collected my tray and joined Allie. Gael and the others followed.

***

'I'm sorry,' Allie said when we were alone.

We lay on the lawn of her backyard, watching the stars.

'For what?' I asked.

'For the way I treated you.'

'It's okay —'

'No, it's not,' she interjected. 'I was a total witch. I hurt my best friend for a stupid boy and people who didn't really care about me.'

'You don't owe me an explanation.'

'I do,' she said. 'I'm sorry I told about your leg and the treatments. I guess I was upset after seeing you with Eric. He said more words to you than he ever said to me, so I told. I'm really sorry, I regretted it as soon as the words came out.

'I should've ditched the adroit sooner. Using my abilities for mischief was kind of exhilarating, and I thought it was just harmless fun at first, but before I knew it, things were out of control.'

'What changed your mind?'

'They asked me to steal money?'

'Seriously?'

'Seriously,' Allie sighed. 'It started with sneaking into places. First the cinema, then the club, then it was stealing alcohol from the stores. I drew the line when Izzy asked me to swing by the cash register for some cash while I snuck some beer and snacks. I don't know how I could've been so naive?'

'Don't be too hard on yourself,' I told her. 'You're not in that situation anymore.'

'I know,' she said, 'I just can't help feeling like a complete idiot for letting it go on for so long.'